Sandbox List Adventures 26: Secret Agent Spies and Love

It’s always about hiding in corners, tip-toeing so they don’t hear you, sneaking up, finding the antidote, having MacGyver moments with a stick of gum and two toothpicks, fighting the bad guys, and saving the world.

This is the life of Little Guat 007 and his sidekick 008, who is still in diapers.

In truth I had no idea where he got this concept as I’ve never exposed him to James Bond or Mission Impossible, but I can guess that it’s a combination of his love for the Justice League and the Playing Spies episode of Word World. Either way, there’s always espionage-like missions where they crack the Jenga code, solve the ABC Alphabet Foam Floor Puzzle, tie me up with the purple Minnie Mouse jump rope, rescue Dora The Explorer, and save the secret Hungry Hungry Hippos Marble Treasure.

It’s pretty intense.

We have these secret missions at least once a week, sometimes more when it rains over here. I really didn’t think I could add any more juice to these missions, but then my son saw the commercial and then it was on.

For a limited time only. Limited engagement.

That always seems to add a sense of urgency and so … it was on. In our latest Sandbox List Adventure, we mastered our spy skills and became the best 007 secret agents we could with the help of the Spy Exhibit at the Reagan Museum. Overall it was an awesome way to spend Valentine’s Day … taking down pretend bad guys and celebrating with chocolate afterward. Lots of it.

 

I knew President’s Day weekend would bring in the crowds to the museum, so I thought we’d be spies on Valentine’s Day and it proved to be pretty sweet.

 

Once we got our tickets we did our Wonder Twins activate toe tap and headed toward the exhibit.

 

We got our secret agent stickers and prepared ourselves for the movie and spy history lesson.

 

First we were informed of some rules, which my son took pretty seriously.

 

Then we got a few lessons from a couple of real spies.

 

We learned about secret compartments and listening devices.

 

And then we learned of even sneakier ways of spies … never knew a glue stick could be so versatile.

 

Then we realized that we had to beef up our criminalist kit. My son informed me we needed to go buy more spy tools as we only had our plastic screwdriver and wrench.

 

After the tool lesson, we went to the technology area and checked out the satellite spy cameras. It was my favorite exhibit.

 

My daughter’s favorite part was the laser used to eavesdrop on people. She was there awhile.

 

My son got a kick out of the voice changer and hearing all his secret identities.

 

They enjoyed all the exhibits, however the laser maze was their favorite. We did all our secret agent Mission Impossible Ethan Hunt moves to get passed the green lasers you always see in the movies.

 

With this museum having all kinds of spy history it’s no wonder that they also had information about The Berlin Wall.

 

Being able to touch this was a pretty special moment.

 

After soaking up that very special part of history, we ran across another exhibit and decided to keep exploring. However, no pictures were allowed inside, but I can say that being on Air Force I was pretty cool.

 

After all that spy stuff and airplane business, we thought we’d stop to rest. Seeing this pub-like eatery next to the exhibits inspired snack time.

 

It also gave my son a chance to give me his Valentine’s Day surprise. His handmade I Love You card rocked.

 

But him telling me “I have another surprise for you. I made it myself.” And then me seeing it. Dude. “I give you my heart, mom.” Duuuuuude. That got him some extra pieces of chocolate. Yeah most definitely. It was the best ending to our 007 Spy Mission Impossible kind of day.